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African Trade Beads

Tribal and ethnic African Trade beads were central to Rita's collection and necklace design from the early days in the late 1970's. Rita's beads came from African traders from Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Ethiopia, and Mauritania. All of the African Trade beads in Rita's collection are vintage or antique (unless otherwise marked). The Collection includes both African Trade beads and African-made beads.

African Trade beads originate from Venice, Bohemia and other European countries including Germany, France and the Netherlands. They were then used for trading in Africa and the Americas. For the most part, the beads available today were made in the late 19th century or the early 20th century, though some are older.

We have recently removed many of our strands of mixed Bohemian beads. We are going to re-post them in organized groups. Let us know if there was an item you were eye-ing and we will pull it for you. We have also removed some inventory items with older photos. Feel free to send us an inquiry if you had your eye on something and it has recently disappeared! We might just be updating its photo.